disappointedI found some stuff that was casually interesting, but at $15 for a trade paperback or $25-30 for a hardback, it has to be pretty thrilling. Some of this stuff I'd pick up if it was on sale or in paperback, but nothing I couldn't do without.
There were several things by authors I like, but with only so-so topical interest to me in this particular book. A few things by different writers that looked promising but didn't hold my interest for more than half a page. Several dozen trivial variations on the same basic book, and my gods have people gone overboard with chicklit urban fantasy. If I can tell before picking up the book that, three pages into it, I will be yelling the wrong heroine name, that is not a good sign.
I kept thinking things like, "Oh, an angel book, I like those ... meh.
rix_scaedu does funner angels than this." "Oh, a unicorn ... meh. aldersprig's Unicorn/Fantasy series is more interesting." "Oh, vampire ... vampire ... vampire ... wow, these kinda suck and not in a good way. Donor House by kajones_writing has way more tension and relationship diversity." "Hmm, nonfiction, here's a writing book, but it's $20 and I haven't even chipped in for haikujaguar's Three Micahs in hardcopy yet."There was no shortage of stuff, but it just didn't hold my interest. I suddenly realized that the bookstore, which I have always loved and always will love, suddenly has a new kind of competition for my extremely limited spending money. There's this bookshelf in my head, which is stocked with incredibly innovative stuff, coming out from my crowdfunding friends. It's not only fun when that's the shelf I'm looking at here on my computer. It's actually strong enough to outcompete paper books when I'm in a bookstore, if they're below "must have now!" status. Because I can drop $2 or so on a crowdfunding project and have it mean something in terms of sustaining a project I love, rather than spend $15 or $20 on something of casual interest. This is the first time I can think of this happening, and I'm curious if anyone else has had a similar experience.
I lament the passing of bookstores. I don't want them to go away. But for gods' sake they need to have books in them that are fresh and exciting and hooky, or they might as well be furniture stores. Gah. I am not sure how to fix this. I can't really say, "Gee, I'd love to have a shelf of "these began as crowdfunded projects" titles," because almost all crowdfunded hardcopies are self-published or alternatively published, and bookstores won't stock them.
May 13 2012, 04:30:14 UTC 9 years ago Edited: May 13 2012, 04:30:38 UTC
I might note that I live in a place where a paperback (Jim Butcher's 'Changes' was the one I picked up off my shelf) costs $20. The hard copy of 'Ghost Story' set me back $35. These are Australian dollar prices & we've been running at close to parity with the US dollar for quite some time now. 'Normally' you may refer to our currency as the Pacific peso compared to yours.
Thoughts
May 13 2012, 04:55:00 UTC 9 years ago
You're welcome, and thanks for introducing them. I like unusual cosmologies.
>>I might note that I live in a place where a paperback (Jim Butcher's 'Changes' was the one I picked up off my shelf) costs $20. The hard copy of 'Ghost Story' set me back $35. These are Australian dollar prices & we've been running at close to parity with the US dollar for quite some time now. 'Normally' you may refer to our currency as the Pacific peso compared to yours.<<
Yeah, Canadian dollars used to be the same way, but are much closer to American dollars now. I have a good handful of friends in Australia and New Zealand. Good for news from down under.